Because a babysitter has to eat …

Do you set up food for your babysitter? What kind and how much? Do you go out of your way to stock foods you know your sitter loves?

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Don’t let them go hungry.

Parenting Guideline #247: you’ve got to take care of your kid’s sitter. Especially if they work for free. Which luckily, ours do. For now. Cip’s babysitters so far have been his Grandpas. Oscar’s Dad makes no demands and seems content to sing in Spanish and coo over his grandson for hours. My Dad, while equally enamored, lets his stomach do the talking. He strolled into the kitchen as Oscar and I were gearing up to go out recently and asked, “Where are the babysitter snacks?” He was eyeing the mixed nuts, shelled pistachios, and cheese-y Goldfish in our pantry. His nickname is Barbecue Bob for a reason. Eating is one thing we Ladds excel at. As I later watched him happily settle into a bowl of pistachios as Cip slept, I realized there are certain foods to always have on hand should the Babysitter come a-calling.

Babysitter Eats should be easy to prepare and eat. Keeping the sitter happy and at ease is your top priority. A zap in the microwave should be the most cooking needed. One-handed eating may be ideal if the baby is being held or fed. Many of these snacks can easily be found at farmer’s markets, Costco, grocery stores or even Target. The bonus of keeping these supplies on hand is they do double duty for every day eating, sports watching and impromptu get togethers. (As if!) But, while beer seems to go hand in hand with any sports watching at our place, my preference is to keep the sitter sober.

While it’s good to have healthy eating options, don’t feel sad if the sitter ignores these foods. I have great memories of eating sugar and salt laden treats while doing paid babysitting gigs in my teen years in Benicia. Eating microwave pancakes, ice cream, Doritos and other convenience foods was a guilty pleasure. I adored the kids I took care of, but I loved discovering and eating their junk food almost as much.

Here are my current picks for the best Babysitter Eats. This list could use more items from The Poop readers’ recommendations.

Frozen pasta or other casserole dish: lasagna (homemade is great if you can swing it) or other hearty pasta one dish meals make for an easy dinner. Think of this as the main course, with the other items as snacks and filler for longer babysitting shifts.

Pizza or burritos: if your fridge is bare or you don’t have time to cook, pick up or order in for your Babysitter. Bonus: if you order a large pizza, you can eat the leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day.

Wash it down with Izze soda, from a Colorado-based drink company. They make refreshing and naturally sweet drinks.

Dried Fruit: apricots, cranberries, cherries, and other dried fruit can be more satisfying than tried and true raisins. The sitter may want to mix the fruit with the nuts and/or chocolate. Or not.

Chocolate:Charles Chocolates and See’s are locally produced and come in various sizes. How fun is it to have your pick of the chocolates when no one else is around? New Tree 2.82 ounce bars are made in Belgium and sold in local outlets and on sale at the Made in France warehouse sales. New Tree has great flavors, and the cinnamon is great.

Calbee Snack Salad Snapea Crisps, original or Ceasar flavors. These baked treats may be meant for salad, but our sitters eat them straight out of the bag. They are tasty and somewhat healthy, with just enough oil and salt to qualify as a satisfying snack.

MARY LADD lives in San Francisco’s Mission District with her newborn son and husband, the Chronicle’s Oscar Villalon. She obsesses over food, cooking and events for a living and likes to read and walk every day. Mary also writes at SFist and her Jalapeno Girl blog.